Miami’s LeBron James is able to get inside against the Bucks’ Marquis Daniels during their game Friday.

Boylan looking to shore up team's leaky close-in defense

St. Francis - Points in the paint are piling up on the Milwaukee Bucks.

Orlando scored 62 points in the paint Sunday and was plus-22 in that category against the Bucks.

Miami outscored Milwaukee in the paint, 42-36, Friday. And Washington had a 58-42 advantage in the Wizards' victory over the Bucks on Wednesday.

You get the picture.

Bucks coach Jim Boylan wants his players to see it, too. He devoted a share of Monday's practice session to film study to reveal the team's defensive weak link.

"When you watch us play closely, from a coach's standpoint, we're not that far away," Boylan said after practice at the Cousins Center. "It's a lot of minor detail stuff.

"Instead of being 4 feet over to the left, you need to be in a certain position. If you would get there, and you can, it's going to make a difference in the possession.

"Teams are scoring way too much in the paint against us. And it's not always just throwing it down to a big guy and he's turning and scoring. That's not it.

"It's guys catching the ball on the perimeter, penetrating and getting into the paint, shooting little floaters in the lane or getting all the way to the rim. We've got to do a better job defending the painted area and keeping teams out of there."

Washington's John Wall and Orlando's Jameer Nelson were able to get inside the Bucks defense and creating havoc.

Miami had Dwyane Wade (nine assists) and LeBron James (seven) combining for 16 of its 24 assists in the Heat's 107-94 victory over the Bucks on Friday.

The Bucks allowed Orlando to shoot 50.5% Sunday (47 of 93) and needed a sensational fourth-quarter performance by Monta Ellis to pull out a 115-109 victory.

Ellis scored 25 of the Bucks' 45 fourth-quarter points as they rallied from a 13-point deficit.

But Boylan wants to see a more consistent defensive effort, beginning Tuesday when the Bucks play Portland to end a three-game home stand.

Following Sunday's game Boylan emphasized that the Bucks have to respect their opponents.

He pointed out Magic players Arron Afflalo and Nikola Vucevic, who had 24 and 20 points, respectively. Afflalo was 11 of 20 from the field, and Vucevic hit 10 of 16 attempts.

"That's a perfect example," Boylan said. "Two good players on a team that's had a tough year so far. But they can play.

"Just like when we play Portland. They've got great players. When we play Atlanta, great players.

"We have to turn it up. We can't rely on some tidal wave in the fourth quarter to overwhelm another team, because that's going to happen once every 20 games, at best. We need to be a serious team."

Boylan said he has confidence in his players to make the necessary improvements.

"Right now we're not playing well," Boylan said. "You want to go into these final 17 games, and if you are a playoff team you want to be building some momentum. You don't want to be backing your way into the playoffs.

"You want to be running your way into the playoffs. We need to change our mind-set and be expending more energy rather than less energy. Get ourselves in a position that as we get into the first two weeks of April, that we're playing really good basketball."

The Bucks still must face Oklahoma City twice, Miami once more, Atlanta three times and the Los Angeles Lakers once.

"And we're playing some good teams," Boylan said. "It's how are we playing those games? Is our defense good? Are we sharing the ball on offense? Are we rebounding and are we hustling?

"We've had a little bit of slippage. But we've done that before during the season and we've been able to come back and right the ship."

Hustle and pain: Forward Ersan llyasova did not practice Monday after aggravating his back and hip while making a key play late in the Bucks' victory over Orlando.

The Bucks forward was so sore that he couldn't make it to the Cousins Center practice facility. Ilyasova's status is questionable for Tuesday's game against Portland.

Ilyasova went diving into the first row under the Bucks basket to save a crucial possession, leading to a three-pointer by Ellis with 13 seconds left.

Forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute continued to be sidelined with a turf toe injury to his right big toe. Mbah a Moute has missed the last four games after being injured March 10 in Sacramento.

It's uncertain when he will return, but he is out for Tuesday's game and likely will be out for the team's road swing to Atlanta and Indiana later this week.